took my toyota to don valley north a month ago because my heat in my 2004 Highlander would cut in and out (sometimes it would be heat and sometimes it would just switch back to cold air by itself).

i did my research well before i walked in and found someone with similar problem but in order to fix it you have to take apart the heating control unit which had a whole bunch of flex cables that breaks very easily so i didnt want to touch it with my fat fingers.

took it to the dealer at 10AM, told them my problem, showed them the DIY fix and they said they arent 100% sure its the same problem so they would charge me 140+tax for a diagnostics and they said it would take a tleast 6 hours to check everything. (atleast they shuttled me home)

The next day....yes the next day they finally called me at 3PM and said the problem is not the same as the DIY fix i showed them and its becasue of a chip malfunction in my heater control unit and that i need to pay 1400+tax to fix it.

I thought $1400 for a car thats realistically worth around 8 - 9K is way too much so i took it home. After another 3 days of dealing with the heat in freezing cold conditions i finally decided to open the unit up myself and take a look.

low and behold its the exact same issue as the DIY fix. Called them back and complaint but they say they dont do soldering jobs so their only option was to replace the whole thing.

You can pick up a battery charger at Walmart for $50 (Schumacher). It does a trickle charge until the battery is full. Since you do not take the car out too long during the week the maintener will keep amperage up on your battery. You only have to do this maybe once a week. A lot of exotic car owners do this as we have phantom drains on our batteries. Very safe for the car and extends the longevity of the battery.

Thanks - I do have a trickle charger for my crotch rocket when I store it for the winter. However - I think the car is on the original battery for the past 6 years and I'm starting to get a long crank on cold mornings now. I found a great deal with my mechanic who can hook me up with a BOSCH battery (which he says is pretty much OEM) and can do it for 250 instead of 350 that the dealership wanted.

How does $250 for a new BOSCH installed/registered battery sound to everyone?

Probably all with your attitude. If you are calm and polite you will get fixed up. If there were as many problems as you say dealers would be screwed. I don't think I have ever had a service problem that didnt get settled nicely. People here represent a very small percentage of BMW drivers but a large percentage of BMW drivers with problems. Get to know service department and stay with the same person if you can. Works ALL the time.

I'm sorry but i disagree. I am very cool-calm and collected and those on this forum that know me on a personal level (and there are many) can attest to that.

It very honestly takes a lot to get me going, but there is a line between reasoning with someone and bending over the service desk and taking it and thats where I draw the line. I was at Maranello trying to get my turbo's looked at because the wastegate was failing and they made every excuse from:

'I need to pay $500 so they can look up the service record of my car because only BMW's made in Germany are covered under the wastegate rattle recall and mine might have been manufactured in a different country.'

huh? That was their first attempt to get money out of me. Everyone here knows all our cars are manufactured in Germany.

Then they wanted me to spend $150 on the diagnostic (which I agreed to), which was followed by 'oh we noticed you have a US cluster... your going to need to replace that because its illegal to have that in Canada and we won't do work on your car (warranty wise), unless you pay to replace it (which is $3,000 and its absolutely not illegal - call the Canadian Registrar of Imported Vehicles and ask for yourself).

I'm sorry. You might be one of those individuals who bend over the service desk, but I most certainly am not. I don't even have a problem paying for service on my car if its warranted but its 'ignorant', as you put it, when they lie and take you for an utter fool. I'm sorry, but thats wrong and thats when most people get upset.

Quote:

Originally Posted by MOAB

Again, where do you come up with this stuff? Guess what, businesses are in the business of making money. You think it is just car dealerships that care about profit? Customer service and profit seeking are not mutually exclusive. It is possible to accomplish both and many businesses are successful in this regard.

Your correct, every business cares about one thing before all others, and thats the bottom line. That's why when you take your car in to get fixed, like the OP did, you have employees that take pride in their work and complete a job to meet the standards BMW claims to provide its customers. If an mechanic rushes because its boxing day and wants to head home, not completing the job properly, is that the OP's fault? If Maranello cared about making money, they would perform work properly the first time so customers don't have to continually return since it was not fixed properly.

I'm sorry but i disagree. I am very cool-calm and collected and those on this forum that know me on a personal level (and there are many) can attest to that.

It very honestly takes a lot to get me going, but there is a line between reasoning with someone and bending over the service desk and taking it and thats where I draw the line. I was at Maranello trying to get my turbo's looked at because the wastegate was failing and they made every excuse from:

'I need to pay $500 so they can look up the service record of my car because only BMW's made in Germany are covered under the wastegate rattle recall and mine might have been manufactured in a different country.'

huh? That was their first attempt to get money out of me. Everyone here knows all our cars are manufactured in Germany.

Then they wanted me to spend $150 on the diagnostic (which I agreed to), which was followed by 'oh we noticed you have a US cluster... your going to need to replace that because its illegal to have that in Canada and we won't do work on your car (warranty wise), unless you pay to replace it (which is $3,000 and its absolutely not illegal - call the Canadian Registrar of Imported Vehicles and ask for yourself).

I'm sorry. You might be one of those individuals who bend over the service desk, but I most certainly am not. I don't even have a problem paying for service on my car if its warranted but its 'ignorant', as you put it, when they lie and take you for an utter fool. I'm sorry, but thats wrong and thats when most people get upset.

Your correct, every business cares about one thing before all others, and thats the bottom line. That's why when you take your car in to get fixed, like the OP did, you have employees that take pride in their work and complete a job to meet the standards BMW claims to provide its customers. If an mechanic rushes because its boxing day and wants to head home, not completing the job properly, is that the OP's fault? If Maranello cared about making money, they would perform work properly the first time so customers don't have to continually return since it was not fixed properly.

+1

First of all I was replying to OP. Secondly BMW manufactures 3 series sedans in South Africa too. I never used the word ignorant.Do you know how a company gets to a good "bottom line"? Happy customers. If everyone was unhappy as you say they would leave......hurting their "bottom line". Life isnt perfect and neither are mechanics.

I just wanted to let everyone know about my experience with Maranello BMW in Vaughn and ask how I should feel about it/best next-steps.

On Christmas day, my waterpump failed. I called Maranello BMW the next morning and asked them if I brought my car to them if they could loan me a loaner car for the day while they replaced the pump and thermostat.

The service people ASSURED me that I would get a loaner vehicle but upon getting there I was told that Maranello BMW NO LONGER has a loaner fleet and that I am not eligible for the shuttle service because we're 2 streets too far east. After a fuss from both myself and my cold and tired girlfriend (keep in mind this is boxing day and my girlfriend shops with the best of them), they agreed to give us a shuttle lift home. I was later told that I was lied to and they indeed have a loaner fleet.. wtf?

So I get a call at 4 to come pick up the car and as I arrive at 4:45, the place is almost empty and I was told that the service staff wanted to leave ASAP as they were understaffed for the day and the staff wanted to get home for the rest of their boxing day. This is important because I specifically asked to speak to a mechanic and they assured me I would get to do so - - I didn't.

Within the next day or so I noticed a problem while I was running my heat - the fan and heat would suddenly stop and then start back up intermittently. This problem has carried on all month and is still constantly on/off in cycles. This problem never existed before I got the work done so I tried calling them for weeks, leaving messages without getting anything in return until I caused a shit-fit on the phone and got the Service Manager, Andre to return my call just to tell me that there is nothing they can do about it and that I have two options (this is after 5 back and forth calls and lots of arguing):

1. Pay for a $130 diagnostic to see if it was related to the work done or if it's an unrelated issue (hmm.. I wonder which they'll find)
2. He'll give me a free diagnostic ONLY IF I agree to fix whatever they find and pay for the repairs at Maranello BMW

He explained to me that it is likely an un-related problem and there's nothing they can do about it. From my perspective:

1. I wasn't given a 100% fixed product back...
2. My car wasn't appropriately tested/checked out...
3. I wasn't notified of additional problems in my invoice and given an estimate - instead I was told that the car was 100%

I know the ball is in their court and they have the upper-hand in this because I can't prove anything.

Thanks for reading.

What year is your car? Was it imported from the States? Heavily modded. Any chance any of this contributed to your issues?

What year is your car? Was it imported from the States? Heavily modded. Any chance any of this contributed to your issues?

Nope - Canadian Car, 06 build. Only engine mods are a very recent tune and a drop-in. It's a N52 so no turbos.

I have been expecting the waterpump to bust for a long time and it lasted 120,000 KM.. so it was just regular maintenance that they messed up basically. Nothing out of the ordinary. Car has been flawless to me.

Just wanting to jump into the fray here, but can anyone recommend a dealership they have had good experiences with? Im up at York University so Maranello is the closest one but after reading this, id rather drive 50km's just to not have to deal with that bunch. Perhaps someone can recommend a dealership that doesn't mind a couple mods?

Just wanting to jump into the fray here, but can anyone recommend a dealership they have had good experiences with? Im up at York University so Maranello is the closest one but after reading this, id rather drive 50km's just to not have to deal with that bunch. Perhaps someone can recommend a dealership that doesn't mind a couple mods?

BMW Toronto! or Toronto BMW, one of the two.

__________________

Have BT Tool professional, will scan and clear codes on your BMW. And now I am able to code my 2011 335is and M4

Just wanting to jump into the fray here, but can anyone recommend a dealership they have had good experiences with? Im up at York University so Maranello is the closest one but after reading this, id rather drive 50km's just to not have to deal with that bunch. Perhaps someone can recommend a dealership that doesn't mind a couple mods?

First of all I was replying to OP. Secondly BMW manufactures 3 series sedans in South Africa too. I never used the word ignorant.Do you know how a company gets to a good "bottom line"? Happy customers. If everyone was unhappy as you say they would leave......hurting their "bottom line". Life isnt perfect and neither are mechanics.

I wasn't referring to you, I was referring to MOAP who stated Zebra's comment was ignorant.

I'm sorry but i disagree. I am very cool-calm and collected and those on this forum that know me on a personal level (and there are many) can attest to that.

It very honestly takes a lot to get me going, but there is a line between reasoning with someone and bending over the service desk and taking it and thats where I draw the line. I was at Maranello trying to get my turbo's looked at because the wastegate was failing and they made every excuse from:

'I need to pay $500 so they can look up the service record of my car because only BMW's made in Germany are covered under the wastegate rattle recall and mine might have been manufactured in a different country.'

huh? That was their first attempt to get money out of me. Everyone here knows all our cars are manufactured in Germany.

Then they wanted me to spend $150 on the diagnostic (which I agreed to), which was followed by 'oh we noticed you have a US cluster... your going to need to replace that because its illegal to have that in Canada and we won't do work on your car (warranty wise), unless you pay to replace it (which is $3,000 and its absolutely not illegal - call the Canadian Registrar of Imported Vehicles and ask for yourself).

I'm sorry. You might be one of those individuals who bend over the service desk, but I most certainly am not. I don't even have a problem paying for service on my car if its warranted but its 'ignorant', as you put it, when they lie and take you for an utter fool. I'm sorry, but thats wrong and thats when most people get upset.

Your correct, every business cares about one thing before all others, and thats the bottom line. That's why when you take your car in to get fixed, like the OP did, you have employees that take pride in their work and complete a job to meet the standards BMW claims to provide its customers. If an mechanic rushes because its boxing day and wants to head home, not completing the job properly, is that the OP's fault? If Maranello cared about making money, they would perform work properly the first time so customers don't have to continually return since it was not fixed properly.

+1

With regard to service I must be the luckiest guy in the world. 37 years at about 25-30,000 kms per year and I've never had a run in/problem with a service department. Maybe I'm just being too nice. Relationships and continuity are over rated I guess.

Contacted Maranello Management and BMW North America.. They sent me back an e-mail telling me that they would look into the roadside assistance part of my complaint and completely disregarded the main issue. Oh well, sometimes you just get screwed.

So in other words nothing happened. Just going to try to replace my battery and hopefully that solves my problems.